


Incipient

by manicmanner



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post 01.23, F/M, Gen, Multi, On Hiatus, Slow Build, WIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-02
Updated: 2013-10-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 10:52:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manicmanner/pseuds/manicmanner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Incipient - beginning to come into being or to become apparent.</p><p>Or, how Oliver got his groove back.</p><p>ON HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> x-posted at my tumblr, mily-day

He’d seen a lot of people die by this point. Too many, more than any one person should have to see. At least half of them were be his own hand, on the island or as the Hood. But not one had stuck with him so much as the one he simply couldn’t save. 

As Oliver drifted back into consciousness, Tommy was all he could see. Bloody and forgiving and dying.

A gentle hand prodded his shoulder again. “Oliver, you slept through the whole movie.”

Oliver Queen scrubbed the lingering sleep off his face before opening his eyes. The lights in the theater they were in had been turned on by that point, so he could see the thinly veiled look of concern Laurel was giving him. That expression was becoming too familiar to him but he didn’t know how to fix it. He smiled at her in a way he hoped was reassuring. “Sorry, guess I’ve been staying up too late lately,” he lied smoothly. He hadn’t, not these days.

Laurel opened her mouth to say something, seemed to think better of it, and closed it again. He made sure to not look away first as she searched his face, keeping his features relaxed as possible. Easier said done. She finally sighed. “Come on then. The people have been waiting to sweep this place for a bit.”

Oliver looked down towards the exit to see two theater employees standing there watching them. He smiled and waved at them as he clamored to his feet. As Laurel and Oliver walked arm and arm out of the theater he made sure to slip them both a twenty for good measure. He felt more than heard Laurel’s exasperated huff of laughter at the gesture, and started hoping things would work out after all. 

\--

_Verdant_ , although Oliver had started it up mostly as a cover for his nightly activities, was still a legitimate business. Even if he’d hung up the bow, he still had to keep it up and running. He didn’t want anyone getting suspicious.

After he dropped Laurel off at her dad’s place (she was still looking for a new place after the Undertaking), he headed back down to the club. It had stayed mostly intact, and the repairs that it did need he was shopping out to people that needed a little bit of cash to get their lives back in some resemblance of order. So as he pulled up to the building he wasn’t surprised to see all the people buzzing around, most of who were packing up for the evening.

Of course, he didn’t see Felicity’s car because of that.

Diggle and Felicity had both been trying to contact him since the day after the Undertaking. After the debrief, Oliver had cut communications. Diggle had stopped calling after a bit, but Felicity had called everyday since. Oliver’s phone had 28 unanswered calls to prove the fact. She had never tried to physically confront him, however.

He got off his bike and had almost made it to the back door when she accosted him from across the way. “Oliver, we’ve got to talk.” He didn’t look at her directly, but he could see from the corner of his eye that she was still sticking to her bright colors. Against the gray backdrop of the alleyway, she definitely stuck out. But Oliver knew why she was here, and knew it would be better if he didn’t acknowledge her. He was opening the door when she finally reached him and grabbed his arm, forcing him to either shrug her off or turn and face her.

He opted for the latter, sighing as he did so. “Felicity, I’ve got a lot to do. Can whatever it is not wait until later?”

He watched as the blonde sputtered, letting go of him only to point a manicured finger at him accusingly. “No, because you’ll keep avoiding the issue. The big, covered in green leather, shoots arrows and kicks ass issue. The city’s in bad shape, and that’s only what the news is showing. The police reports are even worse. We’ve got to --”

“Felicity,” Oliver said, trying to shut her up for a moment. It worked. Felicity promptly stopped talking. But judging by her defensive stance, she wasn’t terribly happy about it. “I watched this city fall apart in front of my eyes. Everyone I love was out of my reach when the bomb went off. I watched my best friend die in front of me because I couldn’t get there in time.” Oliver closed his eyes and saw Tommy. He breathed and counted to ten before opening them again. Felicity’s features had softened in a way that made him look away, at the portion of the alleyway behind her. “I have failed this city in more ways than anyone on my father’s list could. Just try to understand that. It’s over.”

Oliver used Felicity’s stunned silence as an opportunity to get to the door. As he opened it, he heard her heels shuffle his way. “Oliver, no matter what you choose, just try to remember you’re a good person. A person with questionable life choices and morals, but deep in there you do what you can for everyone else. And that’s what counts.” Oliver whipped around to watch Felicity walk away.

If he slipped down to the workshop and spent the evening lost in his thoughts, staring at his old costume, no one was the wiser for it.

\--

_“There have been small sections of the Glades where it seems citizens have taken matters into their own hands. That should be encouraging._

_But wasn’t the question! Where is the Vigilante now? And what was his role in --”_

Oliver turned off the television set after an unsuccessful attempt of TV surfing. He sank back into the couch and heaved out a sigh. Apparently retirement wasn’t as easy as one would guess. Since he had gotten back to Starling City he’d always had a purpose, and now he’d served it in the only way he could. Oliver Queen had served his purpose, fulfilled his father’s dying wish. Now he was just listless and that bothered him. He didn’t want to closely examine why it bothered him so much, so he pushed it to the back of his mind as he got up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. On the way he heard feet scurrying down the main stairs.

Oliver cut across the hall to see Thea throwing a large sports bag over her shoulder. She had been going out more and more frequently since the Undertaking, which had led to more than a few shouting matches between the two of them. He had a feeling it was because of that boyfriend of hers, who lived in the Glades. But this was the first time he had seen this.

“What’s in the bag?”

Thea threw a dirty look at him. “You know, Ollie, this concerned older brother thing you’ve been doing isn’t cute. So don’t.” She had to readjust the bag to maintain her balance, he noted. Something heavy is in that bag. He had a terrible inkling about what it was.

He had his hands up in surrender. “Got the memo. Memo is the right thing, right?” She rolled her eyes at him, but nodded. “But just stay safe, okay? Mom’s not around the mother you, so someone’s got to do it.” Thea blinked at him. That wasn’t resistance, Oliver thought wearily. He missed the days when they got along without all of this baggage. But that was a lifetime ago for him. He waved a hand at her. “Go crazy. Call if you need anything.”

Thea gave him a smirk and a halfhearted salute before continuing on her way. Oliver ran a hand through his short hair and sighed to the empty room. One more night of putting the fear of the Hood in people, and he was done. 


	2. Chapter 2

It was a sort of relief to be on the streets again. Nighttime in Starling City had always drawn Oliver in, like all of those nights painting the town red when he was younger, but prowling the streets as the Hood showed him a different side of things. Where he used to see nothing but how amazing the city around him was, now he saw the people who didn’t have it made, who struggled and begged for their next meal. The streets that used to shine white to him had a grayer hue to them, with all of the ugliness that could happen on them.

Even with that, Oliver loved the city. And speeding down the side streets on his bike filled him with a thrill that was hard to deny.

_“Getting back on the bike, literally?”_ Felicity rang in happily in his ear. Oliver frowned and checked the communication system on his bike. Sure enough, the light was blinking as on. Although he knew he had shut it off.

“Felicity, are you stalking me?”

There was a choked laugh on her end. _“Not exactly. But, I can’t help it if during your stint as the Vigilante I had set up a couple of ways to track your whereabouts. You know, just to be safe. Not in a creepy way.”_

“Uh huh,” Oliver replied, deadpanned. Although he couldn’t help the twitch of a smile as he said it. Only Felicity.

_“That was a case of my foot-in-mouth syndrome, sorry. Tends to flair up sometimes. Although --”_

“Since you’re already here, you might as well help me. Can you track down any criminal activity near this address?” He rattled off his destination, which was the hostel that Roy Harper was currently staying in. “Small scale is what I’m looking for. I need to find out if there’s been any countermeasures against crime in the area.”

_“Like vigilante activity?”_ She sounded suspicious, but there was a touch of amusement in her voice. For all that Felicity said she wasn’t comfortable with people, she was terribly observant when it came to him. That was one of the reasons that he had cut both her and Diggle out of his life, he didn’t need them pointing out the flaws in what he was choosing to do. They saw something in him that he wasn’t and that frustrated him, and he didn’t want to fight them on it.

“Right.” He was quiet as she mumbled to herself, pulling up the information he needed. It was comforting in a way he hadn’t anticipated. He slowed down and took in the destruction of the surrounding area. Some of the reconstruction had started, but a lot of the buildings were still just piles of rubble. Oliver remembered this was one of the poorer sections of the city, and made a mental note to ask Walter about Queen Consolidated donating more money to aftermath efforts.

After a moment, Felicity’s voice was back. _“Okay, since you’re almost there, take a right at the next street and two streets up a left. Past Starling City Bank, someone called in a simple domestic situation in one of the mob bosses’ suites. No police have responded, but there’s chatter in the building about something happening.”_

“On it,” Oliver said, speeding up after taking the first turn. He took the second turn wide, causing several cars to slam on their breaks, blaring their horns at him. He weaved his way through traffic until he had just past the building and parked his bike a few blocks down, leaving it beside a dumpster. I have to work out a better system of transportation, Oliver thought as he moved some old mattresses around to cover up his bike.

He made his way onto the roof of the closest building via the fire escape and started making his way towards his destination. The grit of asphalt underneath his boots, the rush of air as he flew from building to building, the way his body knew exactly how to roll to keep his momentum. All of this reminded him of the particular brand of freedom being the Hood allowed him. Another reason not to do it. This isn’t a game, Oliver remembered. You’ve gotten people killed over this.

He had made it back to the apartment complex and started to ask Felicity if she was sure this was the right place when he heard glass scattering. Oliver ran to the edge of the building just in time to see someone falling from of the higher floors. Before he registered what he was doing, he was throwing himself off the side with the figure.

As he dropping down, he pulled out his bow and shot one of the specialized arrows he has constructed, one with a grapple at the end. He had a death grip on the bow as he sped down and reached for the person, and as he wrapped his spare arm around the struggling figure a couple of floors from the dark alleyway below, the arrow caught on to the edge of the roof. Oliver gritted his teeth as he was jerked violently, the figure in his arms still struggling against him. The line he’d set up couldn’t hold the weight, and with a snap they were dropping again, this time slower. Oliver angled his body so that the two of them dropped into the dumpster below them. The impact was still rough, but at least they hadn’t dived face first onto the trash littered concrete.

There was a tense moment as some of the adrenaline faded, but Oliver scrambled up and dragged both himself and the person he’d just saved from the dumpster. The person was in a dark red hoodie and jeans, but Oliver couldn’t see a face because as soon as they touched down to the alleyway the person tried to push him away and make a run for it. He ignored the pain in his arms and chest as he bodily hauled the person up by the back of his hoodie and shoved him up against the grimy brick wall of the building.

“You better start talking,” Oliver growled, thankful he’d come out in full gear, voice modifier included. He grabbed the boy’s hood, which he had pulled up over his face during that flurry of activity, and froze. Roy Harper looked back at him defiantly through a domino mask, a hard set in his jaw. Dammit, Oliver groaned inwardly.

Something blunt hit him square in the back of the head, but he didn’t let up on his hold on Roy. “Set away from him,” his sister said from somewhere behind him.

Oliver didn’t. “This isn’t a game. This ends tonight,” he spat out at Harper. “I’ll be back for you otherwise.”

Harper didn’t look terribly impressed. “And what? Threaten me some more? This city needs help, any way it can get it. If you won’t, who’s going to?”

“Back up now!” Thea ordered. He backed up, just enough that he wasn’t crowding Harper, keeping on guard in case one of the teens decided to jump him. Thea let him back up, and Roy only continued to glare at him accusingly, readjusting his clothes. Oliver thought carefully about how to proceed.

“Starling City needs you,” Harper said, completely sure in his statement. “And if it can’t have you, it’s got us.”

“This ends tonight,” Oliver repeated in response. Before the two of them could react, Oliver grabbed his bow and one of his arrows, aiming it at Thea. She was dressed in similar clothing, eyes lined by a matching domino mask. Oliver closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath. On the exhale, he shot just to the right of her head.

She dodged left and Oliver took the opportunity. He punched Harper in the gut once, twice, and then sprinted towards Thea as Harper fell. He grabbed Thea’s weapon, a wrist mounted slingshot, and threw it far enough away from both of the teens to ensure they couldn’t get to it. Oliver didn’t dare get as close to Thea as he did to Harper, but he had to be equal in his treatment to avoid rousing suspicion. “Help your partner out and leave,” he growled before making his exit.

This wasn’t good. Oliver zigzagged his way back to his bike (untouched, surprisingly) and put on his helmet. Only then did he sigh.

_“Find what you were looking for, Boss?”_

Oliver had to resist the urge to rub at his eyes. He suddenly felt the adrenaline from the visit leave him and he felt bone-tired. His upper body started to feel like a giant bruise and his head was aching from where Thea nailed him. “Yeah. Yeah I did.”

\--

Patching yourself back together was always a pain in the ass. There was always some awkward injury you couldn’t quite reach, or if you could reach it was impossible to wrap securely. Oliver bemoaned the fact that he had ignored Felicity’s nervous chatter on the way over to _Verdant_. Maybe if he had responded she would have brought a medical kit. I'm getting soft, he thought as he unwrapped the bandage from his right arm for the third time. I’ve been through much worst.

A door opened and footsteps came down the stairs. Oliver looked up from his handiwork to see Diggle coming around the corner. A corner of his mouth twitched. “Did Felicity tell you I was in mortal danger?”

Diggle grinned, shaking his head. “She mentioned the fact that you were running around town and forgot to tell anyone. She was a little concerned over how cranky you were, her words, not mine.”

Oliver made a sound of acknowledgement and made to wrap his arm again. “I forgot that I’m supposed to report to you two every time I want to do anything.”  
He felt rather than saw Diggle’s agitation. But Diggle held his tongue and bit back a comment. They settled into an awkward silence as Oliver tried unsuccessfully to fix the bandage before Diggle sighed and walked over to him. “You know how hard it is to wrap those wounds. Give me your arm.”

Oliver immediately put his arm out for Diggle and in a matter of moments Diggle was done. Oliver inspected the handiwork and gave a curt nod. Felicity had gotten pretty good at the clean up part of the operation, but Diggle had more experience by spades. “This was just a house call.”

Diggle gave him a dubious look. “A house call,” he repeated slowly, maintaining eye contact and pointedly not looking at Oliver’s injuries.

Oliver rubbed a tired hand over his eyes as he got to his feet. “Thea and her boyfriend have decided to follow in the Hood’s footsteps.” What a mess, he thought to himself as he started pulling off the rest of his costume.

“Troublemaking must run in the family.” Oliver turned around to give Diggle a glare. Diggle just shrugged. “This is all up to you. However you deal with this, I’ve got your back. I can’t force you to do anything, but I figure that at some point you’ll work it out.” Oliver heard the underlying message but chose not to address it.

He glanced back to his gear. After the Undertaking, he hadn’t bothered to close shop down in the warehouse. His eyes scanned the area, taking in everything they had put together. All of the arrowheads he’d been working on were still laid out neatly. Felicity’s computer systems were shut down but ready to be turned back on at a moment’s notice. Diggle’s training area was intact. If he had wanted to stop, wouldn’t he have completely gotten rid of the evidence that this had happened?

Oliver didn’t like the answer he came up with.

He was damned tired. There were a million things to be done, at that’s with just being Oliver Queen. The problem became, who was Oliver Queen? The world saw him as an entitled, drunken playboy who didn’t care about anything outside of himself. And that’s not who he was anymore. But he didn’t want, couldn’t be, Starling City’s hero. He wasn’t one, and he didn’t know how to be. Laurel would probably never forgive the Hood for not saving Tommy that night. Oliver didn’t think he’d forgive him either. He had to choose a direction and commit to it. That had never been his strong suit.

He straightened his shoulders from the slump they had fallen into and looked at Diggle. “I’ll let you know.”

Diggle just nodded and made his way back up the stairs. Oliver looked at the hooded vest he was still holding, put it back in its place, and followed after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Faster update than anticipated, but that works for me if it does for you. I'm going to try and post a chapter at least once a week. 
> 
> We'll see how that schedule holds. The chapters should be getting longer and more in depth as the story progresses in a bit, but I'll try to keep up a steady rhythm. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you liked it, hated it, or if you saw any errors in the comments section. I've been trying to catch mistakes, but my eyes don't see everything.


	3. Chapter 3

After tossing and turning all night, Oliver finally gave up the ghost and rolled out of bed. It was strange, he’d never gotten used to having a soft place to sleep once he got back from the island. He supposed it was because he’d never stuck around to sleep in it, choosing to spend his nights marking names off his father’s list. Now that Oliver used the bed regularly it became apparent that all of the down feather pillows and thousand thread sheets in the world would help him sleep. He wondered why he bothered as he stood up and stretched, wincing at the soreness in his muscles.

The pains of the night before had turned into the aches of the morning, so he moved over to the empty space in his bedroom and started going through his morning routine. Felicity had always joked that he must be pushups in his sleep to have the body he had and that wasn’t wrong per say. Training was a constant thing. But that morning he opted for some basic forms that Shado had walked him through on the island. The whole thing seemed to be a mix of various disciplines of yoga, tai chi, and some other ones that Oliver couldn’t name, but either way it was challenging work and kept his mind off of more pressing matters. The routine was meant to loosen him up and he did as he worked his way through all the ones he could remember. 

He was wrapping up when he heard someone down the hall. Oliver headed into his private bathroom to grab a towel to swab off the worst of the sweat and was pulling on a plain t-shirt when he heard someone knock on the door.

“Come on in, Raisa,” Oliver called. When he walked back into the main room, Raisa had already entered and was setting down a tray of assorted breakfast foods. Oliver grinned at her as he walked over and plucked an apple out of the array. “I know you like seeing me this early in the morning, but bringing me food is generally a part of a bribe.”

Raisa shook her head in exasperation, but Oliver could tell there was a little affection in the motion as well.“Mr. Queen, Mr. Steele has requested that you meet him at the Queen Consolidated headquarters for lunch,” she reported. “Mr. Steele asked me to make sure you would be ready for the company car to collect you at eleven.”

Oliver shined the apple on his shirt before taking a bite. “Eleven? No problem. Although it seems a bit formal, the whole set up, don’t you think?”

Raisa didn’t look at him, choosing to pace around the room, straightening things as she went. Oliver knew that wasn’t good, she was probably the person that was the most straightforward with him of anyone he knew. She didn’t seem to like whatever was going to happen. He sighed, “Walter wants me to take more of an active role in the company again, huh?”

She finally stopped fixing thing in the room and look at him. He’d guessed correctly, judging by the look on her face. “I believe so. I think it should be your choice, not anyone else’s. I can understand with--”

“With my mother in jail for being a part of a terrorist threat against the city, Walter needs all of the support and good PR that he can get,” Oliver finished, cutting her off.

Raisa put her hands on her hips. Oliver gave her a small grin for it. “Figured I’d say it so you wouldn’t have to.”

“That is not what I was going to say,” she argued.

Oliver shrugged. “Close enough to the truth.” 

Raisa frowned at that. “Your mother is a good person. You know this, even with your time away. What everyone else thinks does not matter. But when her own children do not believe in her, what is she to do?”

Oliver sighed, taking another bite of his apple before replying. “I know that she did what she thought was needed. But if I don’t get myself ready for what reporters and other people will say, then I can’t help anyone, especially her.” He looked back to Raisa, who was considering him carefully. “What?”

“You have changed,” she said softly. She shook her head as if ridding herself of an image. “You were not nearly as thoughtful when you were younger. It is nice to see that you’re letting that heart of yours shine through.”

“Just a little bit. Just being the bad boy has gotten a little old,” Oliver said, turning away her comment to toss his apple core into the waste bin just inside the bathroom door. As expected, it landed with a satisfying plunk. He looked back at Raisa who was trying not to smile at him.

“You think you’re so charming?” she asked.

“Oh, I know I’m that charming. Just have to show everyone else that,” Oliver said with a cheesy wink. Raisa rolled her eyes and he barked out a laugh.

\--

His phone buzzed as the town car was pulling up to QC headquarters. Oliver pulled the phone out of his inner jacket pocket and read it. Dinner at my place tonight, Laurel had sent him. He scanned over the line a couple of times before tapping the phone to the palm of his hand. The two of them had been trying to see each other at least once a week, but since he passed out during their last date…

“Mr. Oliver?” the driver said from the now open door. Oliver types a quick confirmation to Laurel before sliding out of the car, thanking the patient driver with a smile and a twenty-dollar bill.

The main QC was always impressive, with the minimalist design of the building. Oliver took in the area as he made his way to the elevator across from the door of the main lobby, not bothering to stop for security. When one of the guards made to halt him right before the elevator doors, his partner just shook her head. “That’s Oliver Queen. Don’t bother,” she said, looking at Oliver.

He gave her a big grin, but she rolled her eyes. “Head on up, sir.” Oliver gave her a mock salute as a couple of people shuffled out of the way for him.

People cleared off as the elevator went up, none heading to the top floor with him. Oliver took the time to check his tie, tugging it back into place. After all this time, business ties still bothered him. Some things never change, he guessed.

The doors opened and he strutted towards the secretary’s desk. “I’m here to see Walter?” he said, making it sound more like a question than the statement it was. He leaned in to the woman and she cleared her throat, flushing just enough to show from under her makeup.

“Oliver, don’t make my secretary uncomfortable,” Walter’s voice called. Oliver turned to see his stepfather standing in the doorway of his office. Oliver saw through the glass wall that there was another person, a young man, sitting in the office. 

“Who’s the new guy?” Oliver asked, after waving a friendly hand at the secretary in goodbye.

Walter led Oliver into the office, closing the door behind him. The man got up from his seat and walked over to greet over with a smile. “Mr. Steele said that you would be coming,” he said, holding out his hand to shake. Oliver took a noticeable moment to size up the newcomer. He was shorter than Oliver by a couple of inches, but his handshake indicated that he wasn’t intimidated like some men were by that fact. His black hair was longer than the average businessman’s usually was, but Oliver felt it was fitting. He didn’t know exactly what to make of the man, but he certainly wasn’t the run-of-the-mill gentleman, judging by the guarded expression in his eyes.

“Oliver, this is Timothy Wayne, a representative of Wayne Industries. You remember the company, don’t you?”

Oliver looked at Walter, then back to Wayne. “Of course. They were the jack-of-all-trades company from the city on the other coast. What was the name?” he wondered out loud. 

Timothy Wayne’s expression didn’t change. Interesting. “Gotham.”

Oliver snapped his fingers. “That’s right. Tough crowd over there, from what I hear.” He guided the party to the open files on Walter’s desk, picking one up as he plopped into a chair. Apparently Wayne Industries wanted to branch into alternative energy using some of their equipment.

“A little rough around the edges, but you learn to adapt,” Wayne said pleasantly enough. Oliver looked back at him to see a small grin on the younger man’s face. “Also, Tim is fine. There’s no need for Mr. Wayne.”

“You related to the boss?” Oliver asked him bluntly. 

Walter looked he had swallowed something sour, and was opening his mouth to say something when Tim answered. “He adopted me after my dad died. Mr. Wayne had sponsored me throughout high school and took me in when I didn’t have any other surviving family.”

There was a pause and Oliver smiled at Tim. “Well, let’s get this meeting on with then, shall we? I don’t know what Walter here told you, but I’m just here as a voice for the CEO whose out of commission. Hope you didn’t find the interrogation too bad.”

The grin crept back on Tim’s face. “Not at all. I’ve handled much worse.”

\--

Felicity looked flabbergasted to see Oliver lurking in her office doorway when she looked up from her computer screen. “Oliver, what--”

“Felicity, I need you to dig up as much information on Timothy Wayne as you can,” Oliver interrupted. He was starting to turn when he saw her grinning at him. “What?”

“No bull crap excuses? No hidden agendas?” Felicity asked. “I’m almost disappointed.”

He shook his head, answering her grin with a small one of his own. “No, but if you find anything of interest in the next twelve hours I’ll buy you another bottle of that wine you were so fond of.”

“Challenge accepted.” His grin grew and he was walking out the door when he heard, “Hey, you’ll have to have some of it with me this time. If you’ve got any time, that is. And don’t think of it as a date.”

“We’ll make time, Felicity. And if you keep going, other people will speculate about us.” He left listening to the sound of her surprised laughter chasing after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer than I said it would! All of the work for my classes was due at the same time (read: yesterday) and I was messing around with the bigger plot of this story and watching Teen Wolf (surprisingly good show. ALLISON IS MY WARRIOR QUEEN.) But everything is on track for the next little bit, so there should be another chapter up next Monday. Which will be when I post most chapters, I think.
> 
> So, I'm going to bring some other DC heroes in, as one could guess from this chapter. Whoever guesses which character's in the next part gets a virtual cookie.
> 
> TL;DR Everything's on track. Mondays should be posting days. DC heroes are storming Starling City.
> 
> Any comments, critiques, questions are appreciated as always. See you next week (for real this time!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Just had trouble getting stuff done all across the board. But I'm back! And I hope you guys enjoy!
> 
> (Also, everyone ready for next week? I'm not.)

_“Have you turned a big, bad crime fighting persona into the creepiest older brother ever?”_ Felicity asked as Oliver was settling into a shadowy section of a rooftop. He was looking down at Roy teaching some advanced self-defense moves to Thea in a run down scrap metal yard. Oliver had to admit, she was pretty good. But he wasn’t in a congratulatory mood.

_“Okay, I guess that’s not a good way to put it. Let’s try something else. I did some digging for your mystery man,”_ Felicity said, plowing through without getting an answer for the first question.

“What did you find?”

He heard some distant tapping before she replied. _“Not much. Bright kid when he was in school, kind of like me, was on every sporting team, not like me. Also he had a wealthy benefactor, Mr. Wayne, which would have been awesome. His mom died during childbirth and his father in a home burglary during his senior year. Mr. Wayne then adopted him and Tim Drake became Tim Drake-Wayne, although he usually drops off the Drake bit for PR.”_

“I already gathered as much from him. Anything that stands out?”

There was a pause. _“Not with him. But poking around the GCPD database turned up some --”_

The communication line blacked out before she was able to finish. Oliver tapped his earpiece, checking if the frequency had jumped, but everything appeared to be normal. He was jumping up from his position when a blunt object pressed into the back of his neck made him freeze. “Look, I’m really not wanting a fight here,” a feminine voice said from behind him. So if you would just promise not to shoot me with that bow of yours that would be most appreciated. Throw it to the right and get up slowly and we’ll chat.”

Oliver cursed himself for not seeing this ambush coming, but he did what she said. After all, he still had backup weapons if all went wrong. He threw his bow to the side and got up slowly. The pressure on his neck disappeared as he stood and he turned around to face the source. 

The first thing he saw was the violet stripes on her arms. The rest of her full body outfit was black, but one continuous purple streak ran from the fingertips of both of her gauntlets to meet in the center of her chest, forming a soft v, almost like a bird’s wings. The woman’s face was exposed, fair hair cropped short, but a domino mask the same shade of purple as the streak covered her eyes. She was still pointing her weapon, one of two eskrima sticks, at him, but didn’t appear to be on the offense. Oliver held his palms out for her to see and she nodded.

“Not much of a talker, right?” Oliver just stared at the strange woman in front of him. She sighed. “That’s fine. I’ve had a lot of practice with folks like you. Lots of other vigilantes aren’t the chatty type, although my favorites tend to be. Just thought I’d drop by your city since you’ve been dropping into mine--”

“Others?” Oliver asked, not trying to keep the disbelieving tone out of his voice. He hadn’t heard about others.

The woman gave him a smile, one that was a touch bemused. “The world’s bigger than just this city. Crime is everywhere and people want to help, although most of us are much quieter about it than you. Thanks for that, by the way.”

He hadn’t known. How did he miss this? There was a lot he wanted, needed, to know, but he didn’t know where to start. Oliver shook his head in an attempt to gather his bearings. “Your city. Bludhaven?”

She lowered her arms and tucked the batons into her belt. Oliver considered using the moment to attack, while he could have the advantage, but his instincts told him to wait and gather more information. “On the money. My current place of occupation, at least. I don’t appreciate being left out of business in my city. Want to tell me what you were doing there?”

Oliver didn’t respond. He couldn’t share his reasons, not without letting on about his life as Oliver Queen.

She sighed. “I can find out, you know. You aren’t the only person with tech people helping you out. But I want to find out from you personally.”

“Why?”

“Everyone has a reason for this, but we all have people to protect, which is a reason why to wear a mask. But—” Even with her eyes whited out from the mask, he could tell she was looking at him with something akin to sympathy. It was written in the sudden softening of her face. That expression got under Oliver’s skin, although he couldn’t explain why. “I don’t know why you do this, but I do this to help people. And you have to play nice with some other folks who can help to do that sometimes. Remember that.”

The woman walked over to where Oliver had tossed his bow, picked it up and tossed it to him. He caught it with ease and watched as she headed towards the edge of the building, leaving her back completely exposed. Now would be the time to strike. He hesitated, realizing that was the point. After a moment she turned back around to playfully salute at him. “I’ll keep in touch.”

There were several things wrong with this meeting, so he asked one last question. “Why come to me now?" 

She was too far away for Oliver to read her face, but the pause before she answered spoke volumes. “You know how I said things used to be quieter before you started your operation? I was being honest. Something’s coming up and I wanted to tell you to keep your eyes open.” There was a pause. “Also, change the moniker. The Hood is a terrible name. And I’ve heard some bad ones.”

Before he could respond, she turned and pulled out a device, aiming it at the building across the way. A line shot out, and before the line had landed the woman was flying off the edge. As she was pulled up Oliver watched her go. The comm piece in his ear suddenly crackled to life.

_“—liver? Oliver, can you hear me?”_ Felicity asked, panic evident in her voice. She started rambling about the blackout when Oliver responded.

“I’m okay. Calm down,” he said in a firm voice. It took a moment, but Felicity stopped chattering enough to let that sink in. “I’m heading back now. What happened?”

He glanced down at the yard, and seeing that his confrontation hadn’t disturbed his sister’s training session, started making his way down to street level. _“I’m actually sure what happened. What it looks like is someone hacked into my line, which isn’t possible because I’m one of the best at this. Or, at least, I haven’t met anyone who could do what just happened.”_  

Oliver was at the bottom of the building’s fire escape and slid down the last ladder. “Call Diggle and see if he’ll head to base.”

_“Already did. He’s on the way.”_ Felicity waited a beat before adding one last thing. _“Is this going to be a Big Deal?”_

Oliver didn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t know what to think either. “I’ll be there in ten.”

_“Roger.”_ He knew he should have put her at ease, but if he’d learned one thing from the Undertaking, it was that no one was safe. The best Oliver could do was speed his way through the streets to her and Diggle.

\--

When Oliver arrived at _Verdant_ , Felicity was watching Diggle pace the length of the workshop with nervous eyes. Oliver announced his presence by letting his bow clang against one of the metal tables. Diggle looked up from his path to direct his agitation at him. “Felicity told me you went out in the field and got ambushed,” he said with a disapproving tone.

Oliver glanced down at Felicity, who was fiddling with everything on her desk to avoid looking at him. “Felicity—”

Diggle closed the space between them with a few long strides, drawing himself up to his full height to tower over Oliver. Oliver stood his ground. “No, what she did was what we agreed to. Oliver, after all the time we spent putting the genie back in the bottle, and all the crap we’ve gone through, this would have been an awful way to—”

“Okay, guys, too much testosterone here,” Felicity declared, getting out of her chair to physically put space between the two men. “And Diggle, there wasn’t much I could do. But I’m sure Oliver’s been working on a plan.” Felicity finally looked Oliver in the eyes. “Right?” 

Oliver opened his mouth to tell them about the bizarre meeting when his phone started buzzing loudly. Diggle shook his head, but motioned Oliver to the phone that was bouncing around on Felicity’s desk. Oliver gave him a nod and grabbed the phone just as the call went to voicemail. Four missed calls from Laurel. He turned back to the two sharply. “I’ve got to make a call. Felicity, see if you can trace the source of the interference and tell Diggle about your end of the blackout.”

Oliver was turning away and walking briskly towards the staircase before he saw Felicity’s nod. As he was marching up, he faintly heard, “That boy’s going to be the death of me.” Oliver’s lips quirked up a bit at that. He checked his phone again. No new calls.

Oliver sighed and ran a hand over his short hair as he called Laurel back. A couple of rings later and he heard her voice. He started apologizing when he realized the call had gone straight to voicemail. His shoulders slumped and suddenly Oliver felt very tired. The tone pinged and he started over.

“Laurel, I’m really sorry about this. Something came up at the club and I had to come check it out. I should have called but everything just got—“ Oliver hesistated for a moment, trying to find the right word. He didn’t have one. “—crazy. But I’ll make it up to you on date night. I promise. Laurel, I –“ Before he could get the rest of it out, the automated voice was telling him that his time had just ran out.

He hung up and stared at his phone. His grip on it tightened and he cocked his arm back, ready to throw the damn thing against the nearest wall. But he restrained himself. He took a couple of deep breaths, willing his frustration away, and lowered his arm before heading back downstairs.

Felicity and Diggle were crowded around her computer and Oliver went to join them. “Were you able to turn anything up?” he asked, leaning around Diggle’s shoulder to see the screen. As he took in what was there he felt Felicity trying to gauge his reaction.

“Not exactly about that problem, but remember when I told you I dug up some interesting stuff about the Gotham police force?” On her screen there was a news article from Gotham’s home paper, the Gotham Gazette. The headline read, _A Wave of Vertigo_. Oliver tore his gaze away from the screen and sharply turned and walked towards one of his tables. He heard Felicity call his name uncertainly, but he didn’t answer. He was seeing red.

He was standing over his equipment when heavy footsteps echoed behind him. “Oliver, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Diggle told him. He didn’t reach out to Oliver, which he appreciated. “We’ve just got to come up with a game plan. Isolate the problem and go from there.”

Oliver turned around to stare the man down. Diggle didn’t move, not giving him an inch. Oliver breathed heavily through his nose before speaking. “I’ve already isolated the problem.” He looked over his shoulder to see Felicity spinning back and forth in her chair. “Felicity, take some time off from QC. We’re going on a trip.”

She frowned at him, but nodded. “You need me? I mean, not like that. I’m flattered, but why take me with you?”

“He’s got a point. Everything’s popping up at the same time. This isn’t a coincidence,” Diggle said. He started walking back towards Felicity and Oliver followed. “The logic is the closer you are to the source of the interference, the easier it could be finding the source.” Diggle looked back to Oliver. “Right?”

He nodded. “You’ll be a fresh set of eyes. You wanted more field work, right?” 

Felicity gave him a grin. “You’re paying for an all-expenses vacation? Bring it.” She turned to her computer to shoot her supervisor an email.

“Diggle, book some tickets. We’re heading to Gotham.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheers!
> 
> P.S. Also, I don't know how to go about this, but how do I find a beta reader? If anyone knows or is interested, shoot me a PM, if you'd be so kind. Thanks!


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